Chesapeake Bay

Current Drought StatusRainfall during the last three months of 2002, as recorded at
Baltimore-Washington International Airport, was 14.75 inches, which
is 5.12 inches above the long-term (1971-2000) average for
those months (see chart below). The above average rainfall resulted in
flows that ranged from 5 percent below average on the Susquehanna to
160
percent above average on the Choptank. Potomac flow for
December is 46 percent above average, but 41
percent below average for the year.

Drought
impacts include lower water levels in
reservoirs and ponds like
this pond in Frederick County

Flow on the
Patuxent was 23 percent above normal in December, but is 36
percent below normal for the year.

Overall, freshwater flow into the Bay is
22 percent below normal for 2002. Recent heavy rains over the
Chesapeake Bay region and focused on the Eastern Shore have raised
surface stream levels, pushed saline waters back into the Bay and
slightly increased ground water table levels, however, unless
precipitation events continue, stream levels will return to low
levels and shallow ground water tables will remain low. The chart
below compares precipitation in 2002 to the long-term (1971-2000)
average. Rainfall in 2002 only exceeded the long-term average in
April, October, November and December; the remaining months were
below or well below. Rainfall in October was a tremendous boost for
much of the watershed.